Yulee standout Derrick Henry closes in on Emmitt Smith as South Lake falls

Derrick Henry ran for 303 yards and five touchdowns on 41 carries as Yulee (2-1) toppled host Groveland South Lake (2-1) 42-14. Henry needs 53 yards to pass Emmitt Smith for No. 2 all time in career rushing in the Florida high school record books.

It was Henry's 37th straight 100-yard rushing game, tying the state record set by Tyrone Moss of Pompano Beach Ely (2000-02).

South Lake QB Buck Solomon had 11 carries for 70 yards.

Henry got things started off quickly, taking his third hand off of the game 50 yards for a touchdown and contest wasn't even two minutes old. That would however, be his longest run of the night as a scrappy South Lake defense made him fight hard for every yard.

Of his 41 carries, Henry had only two other runs for more than 25 yards, giving the Eagles' defense some solace in their grasp for positive signs in their efforts.

First-year South Lake coach Mark Woolum knew what his squad had in store going into the game.

"He is what he's all cracked up to be. He's the real deal," Woolum said. "In the first half we had him in the backfield two or three times and then the first touchdown he goes about 60 yards on us.

"The first touchdown, we had perfect position on him. We had two or three tacklers on him and he just broke it back and went the other way with it. It was a busted play and he went 60 yards on us."

Henry is not only chasing Emmit Smith, but also chasing Belle Glade Glades Day running back Kelvin Taylor for the all-time, national 4-year high school record. Taylor went into Friday night with 10,038 yards, Florida's all-time record for total varsity play. That's counting Taylor's eighth-grade season, as well.

The recognized national record only takes into consideration four years of high school and that mark is held by the Sugarland (Texas) Express Ken Hall, who ended his career with 11,232 yards in 1953. Henry has 8,752 yards, still 2,480 shy of the mark.

Taylor scored six touchdowns Friday night in a Glades Day 49-34 win over Clewiston, and he rushed for 218 yards. His best-ever state rushing mark is now at 10,256 yards. The six TDs give him 161 for his career, also a state record.

That seems like a big number, but should Yulee go deep in the playoffs, he'll have even more chances to hack away at the number.

"You have a young man with an opportunity to do something special, but you always want to balance it out with trying to win the game," Yulee coach Bobby Ramsay said. "So if this game was 55-0 in the third quarter, we gotta take him out. You gotta be smart and you've gotta think big picture."

He never sat in this one, scoring on a five-yard carry for the last of his five TDs with 4:30 left in the game. He looked as if he might have one more shot at Smith's 8,804 yards, which is No. 2 all-time on the Florida prep list, but South Lake would not cooperate.

South Lake, however, sustained it's longest drive of the game, ending the contest with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Solomon to Kris White as the clocked ran down on Henry's night. The scoring drive was highlighted by a 65-yard pass from Solomon to Nick Cedeno that put South Lake across midfield for only the third time in the game.

Henry will turn to juggling his attention between recruiting and actually playing for the next few weeks.

He'll take his first offical visit today as he travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to take in the Gators vs. Vols at Neyland Stadium. He will travel next week to Alabama, whom he currently has listed as his favorite. He's makes his announcement the morning of Sept. 28 at Yulee High, the same day the Hornets will face Taylor and Glades Day in an ESPN game at 8 p.m.

He's handled all of the attention with poise, but he says it can get a little bothersome at times.

The pursuit of Smith, the college announcement and the constant comparisons to Taylor, along with the steady barrage of opinions about whether the 6-foot-3, 240-pound back is suited to play running back in college and onward, would wear on any high school youngster.

"It's doesn't really get annoying unless somebody keeps on talking about it, bugging me about it," Henry said following the South Lake win.

The Hornets got their first-ever playoff win a year ago and Henry wants more now. Yulee defeated Taylor County last year before losing in the second round to Gadsden.

Henry wants to taste what Kelvin Taylor has. Glades Day won three straight Class 2A titles before losing in the quarterfinals last year to state runner-up St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut.

"I just want to get to state ... I'm just hungry. I want to get in. I want to prove everybody wrong. Everybody has doubts about me but that fight in me ... ," he said. "I just want to play all four quarters and help get my team the victory and hope we get to state."